From Chicago to the lake house, we’ve spent the last couple weekends out of town, missing the farmer’s market, but enjoying the time with family. With the weather turning so beautiful, it’s been nice to spend some time away from home where it feels like free time on the weekend should be dedicated to chores and errands rather than relaxing and exposing our pale Wisconsin skin to copious amounts of sunshine.

This weekend, I finally had the chance to catch up on some posts for you guys. This salad was photographed and eaten weeks ago but has been sitting here in the queue, just waiting to be written about.

Frost-sweetened spinach, cottage bacon, candy cane beets, farm-fresh eggs, and green onions all from the market, plus some blue cheese. This is a list of ingredients that is just asking to be put together.

After everything was chopped, roasted, and pan fried, I threw it all in a big bowl, topped it with a simple dressing, and gave it a good toss. The intention was for this to be the first course, for it to be followed by something light and easy.

But somehow we found ourselves sitting at the table putting small portions of the salad on our plate, finishing those, and then repeating until it was all gone. We justified these actions because it is, after all, just salad, right?

Place eggs in a small saucepan. Cover with cold water by about two inches. Bring water to a roiling boil, cover pot, and turn off heat. Let sit for 9 minutes, then drain water and rinse eggs under ice cold water until they cool. Let eggs come to room temperature, peel, and chop.

Make dressing:

In a small bowl or jar, whisk together remaining olive oil, red wine vinegar, and mustard. Pour over spinach and let sit while you assemble the remaining ingredients.